Process of obtaining metals from their ores.



A. T. ELLIOTT & A. MILLER. PROCESS OF OBTAINING METALS FROM THEIR ORES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, 190B.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER ELLIOTT AND ALBERT MILLER, 0]? Lbs ANGELES, CALIFORNIA; SAID ELLIOTT ASSIGNOR TO SAID-MILLER.

rnocnss or- OBTAINING ceases.

META S FROM THEIR onEs.

Patented 0a. 19,1909.

' Application filed. September 15, 1908. Serial No. 453,181.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALEXANDER T. EL- LIOTT, a subject of the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and

:ALBERT MILLER, a citizen of the United States, both residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Process for Obtaining Metals from Their Ores, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a process for recovering gold, together with copper, zlnc,

nickel and cobalt values from carbonate, silicate or oxid ores or from roasted sulfid ores.

The main object of the present invention is to provide for simultaneous extraction of any two or moreof the above named metals from ores containing the same in combination or mixture.

A further object of the invention is to. provide for extraction of the metals by cold solution.

Another object of the invention is to effect this result by the use of a solution which is treat an ore containing copper and gold that the copper will be removed from the gold and as much of the gold as is not extracted will be left inacondition suitable for amalgamation.

An essential feature of the process is the treatment of the cm with a leaching solution containing sufficient ferric sulfate, together with sodium .chlorid,- for the extraction of the copper, zinc, nickel or cobalt and with sufficient chlorin for full or partial extraction of any gold that may be present.

The process consists in leaching the ore crushed to a suitable state of division with, a solution of ferric sulfate containing also sodium chlorid, and a proportion of free ;Cl1l01ll1 and thereby dissolvlng thecopper,

solution, an

zinc, nickel and cobalt values the ore may contain and someor all of the goldand separating the re .alting solution from the ore, precipitatin the copper, zinc, etc. from the regenerating the solution by oxidation of the ferrous sulfate therein to ferric sulfate by generating nascent oxygen in the solution and utilizing the regenerat- I ing solution for the repetition'of the process on another body of ore.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an apparatus suitable for, carrying out the I process.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic section of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a section of an alternative form of regenerating tank: Fig. 3 is a vertical section of an amalgamating means.

1 designates the oxidizing or regenerating tank wherein the ferrous sulfate is oxidized to'ferric sulfate. Said tank is provided with a heating coil 21 which may be a steam coil, and with pipes 22 through which air under pressure from a suitable source may be blown into the tank.

2 designates a tank for holding the ferric sulfatesolution, the regenerating tank I havinga valved outlet 3 for discharging the regenerated liquor into a settling or regenerating tank 4, which discharges into tank 2 by a valved outlet 41. A chlorin tank 5 may be located alongside of tank 2, the two tanks 2 and 5 discharging by pipes 6 and 7 into the leaching liquor-tank 8. From the bottom of said leaching liquor tank a pipe 10 leads to the bottom of the leaching tank 11 which has a false bottom 12 to support the ore 40 and an outlet pipe 13 from its upper part dis charging into a storage tank '14 whose outlet l5 di'scharges'into a precipitation tank 16. Said precipitating tank has a valved outlet 17 discharging into thesump 18. A return or circulation pipe 19 leads from the bottom of the storage tank 14 to a pump 20 which forces the leaching liquor from the storage tank to the. top of the leaching liquor tank 8 establishing circulation of the leaching liquor There is also a circulation for the en tire system by pipe 23 and pump 25 from the sump 18 back to the oxidizing or regenerating tankl'. Outlets l0 and 13 are 'alsoprovided from tank 8 to top of tank 11, and from the bottom of tank 11 to outlet 15.

The process is generally applicable for the extraction ofany metal whose oxid or, carbonate is attacked by. ferric sulfate. Such ores are here-in termed oxidized ores in con tradistinction to sulfid ores.

The process is principally intended for the recovery of copper, zinc, cobalt or nickel occurring together with gold.

The process will be described with special reference to a copper oxid ore containing somegold and is carried out in the above described apparatus as follows:

rous sulfate in water together with a small quantity of sodium chlorid, and a quantity Tank 1 is charged with a solution of fer fate, ferric hydrate and manganese sesqui- 2, whence it is drawn from time oxid, according to the following equation:

It is preferred to inject air into the solution at the same time through the pipe 22, so as to continually reconvert the reduced manganese compound to manganese dioxid, and

' by suitable agitating means, for example, by

injection of the air, the contents of the tank should .be keptin motion, so that the action of the manganese dioxid will be effected throughout the fluid. When the ferrous salt has thus been completely converted into fer ric salt, the solution is first settled toallow the manganese dioxid to then run off to the separator, indicated at 4,

, for separation of the ferric hydrate. The

clear liquor is then run into the storage tank to time through outlet 6 into leaching liquor tank 8 as required. The tank 5 is char water containing chlorin in a conditlon from which itis'easilyliberated, as for example,

by treating chlorid of lime with water to extract the chlorin therefrom in the form of calcium hypo-chlorite. A small proportion of sodium bromid is also added to the solu-- tion and the resulting solution is run into the v leaching liquor tank through the outlet 7 just before the leaching liquor is run onto the ore. The proportions in the leaching liquor may be about as follows enough ferrous sulfate is used to make about threepounds of amounting to about fifty pounds per ton -manganese dio'xid'fused is about twenty-five be used per ton of ore,

7 by electroly "Hypo-chlorate solution oras chlorin water,

ferric salt per pound of copper to be ex tracted, with enough water to form a con centrated solution, and sodium chlorid to one hundred of ore. The quantity of percent of the weight of; the ferrous sulfate. F or ore containing about ten dollars of gold to the ton, the chlorin extracted from about forty pounds of chlorid of lime will and to this will be added about five pounds, ofrsodium bromid perton of ore. The chlorin may be produced many other well known way, forexample, sis. Whether in the form of the chlorin will be presented in a condition wh ch is unstable in contact with anyln letal settle out, and is.

ged with to take place in cold solution,

subject to attack by chlorin. The term free chlorin is herein used to designate this condition as distinct, from a state of combination which is stable in the metal. The leaching liquor aving been prepared as stated, the ore is placed in leaching tank 8, said ore having been crushed to suitable condition of 'fineness. For the extraction of the copper alone 20 mesh is sufficiently fine, but if any considerable extraction of gold value is desired 40 or even 60 mesh is preferable. The leaching liquor is passed through the ore, preferably from below upward, and it may be passed continu-. ally in this manner, passing from the outlet 10 of the leaching liquor tank into the bottom of the leaching tank, upwardly through the leachin tank, then through the outlet thereof to t e storage tank 14, whence it is pumped through means 19, 20, back to the leaching liquor tank, the leaching liquor thus passin in a continuous circulation. If desired," roweverfithis circulation may-be intermittent. By maintaining the circulation for a sufiicient period, substantially all of the copper will be dissolved by' the action of the ferric salt, the reactionwith the oxid ore being as follows:

At the same time the gold or a portion thereof that may be present in the copper ore is dissolved by the actidnof the chlorin and of the bromin in the leaching li uor, it being understood that the action 0 the chlorin water on the sodium bromid will release bromin in the free state. By the addition of the sodium chlorid to the leaching solution, the extractionof the copper is caused which enables the simultaneous use of chlorin for extraction of gold values. The sodium chlorid may, however, be omitted, the leaching solution in that case bein heated sufiiciently to enable the ferric sul ate to leach the ore, but not suflicientlyllto expel thechlorin. The copper sulfate solution in the storage .tank 14 may be drawn off from time to time into the precipitatin tank 16 and the residue in the leachlng tan is washed by water sprayed thereunto, the wash water bemg also run off into tank 16, where the copper is precipitated by any suitable means, for example, by scrap iron, which will also precipitate the gol contents. This preci itating action introduces iron into the so ution, which com ensates for the-iron lost in the form of by rate or oxid in theregenerating tank and in the leaching tank, forming a solution of ferrous sulfate,which may be run off into the sump 18 and pumped back from time to time into the regenerating tank 1 where it is then oxidized to ferric sulfate, as before. A limited quantity of ferrous sulfate thus being used for treatment of an indefi tely presence of such large amount of ore in the regeneration of the ferrous salt by means of manganese dioxid under the application of heat, the oxidation of the ferrous salt iseifected by oxygen liberated in the nascent'state from the manganese dloxld; and our. invention con- 'templates the use ofany means which will. provide for action on the ferrous salt by from any suitable source, said anode and cathode being disposed respectively at the upper and lower portion of the regenerating tank 1-.

If a sufficiently large percentage of zinc,

nickel or cobalt is present, they maybe prei separately. m i

'1' If the gold is ratherfcoarse, the stated socipitated electrolytlcally or otherwise, after the copper has been separated. If insufficient percentage'of these metals is present to justify the extraction at the first operation, the solution may be used over again and after repeated extraction and precipitation of copper,'enough zinc, etc. may accumulate in the solution for economical precipitation thereof.

In case the ore carries extremely lar e copper values, it is preferable to first extract with ferric sulfate and sodium chlorid solution without the chlorin, running ofl most of the solution, but leavingenoughto furnish the copper required'for carrylng'the gold values. The chlorin is then added and the gold thereby fully or partly extracted.

e i'esulting. twosol' 'o'ns unay be treatedlution will not 'fullydissolve it in the time required for economical operation, but in that case the gold is left in a clear state free from copper, etc., so that it is adjusted for immediate and full recovery by amalgamation, for example, on an amalgamation plate, indicated at 29 in Fig. 3.

If the ore is in sulfid form,:it should be roasted before application of this process thereto. 1

It is desirable to add a small quantity of sulfuric acid, say about'twoper cent, tothe ferrous sulfate solution to prevent as far as possible, the precipitation of basic salt in the' regeneration.

Horizontal perforated disks 30, with alternate perforations 31, may be provided for battling the air as it rises in the regenerating tank, thereby increasing its efiiciency in oxi dation of the ferrous salt. 3

What we claim is 1. The process for the simultaneous reco ery'of gold, together With a'nother metal whose sulfate and chloridare soluble in .water, namely, copner, zinc, etc., from their "ores, which consists in subjecting the ore to the action of a solution offerric sulfate containing sodium chlorid and free chlorin,-

thereby dissolvingcopper, zinc, etc, and some or all of the gold, drawing. off the solution, precipitating the copper, etc,, and the gold, producing ferrous sulfate and oxidizing said ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate for a repetition of theprocess.

2. The process of recovering gold together with copper,- which consists in subjecting the ores of said metals to the action of a solution of ferric sulfate containing sodium chlorid f and free chlorin, thereby dissolving part or all of the gold and also dissolving the copper, drawing offthe solution, precipitating .chlorid and. free chlorin, thereby dissolving part or all of the gold and also dissolving the copper, drawing off the solution, precipitating the gold and copber from the solution bythe action of iron, oxidizing the resulting ferrous sulfate solution to ferric sulfate in solution by the act-ion of manganese dioxid, and regenerating said manganese air.

4. The process of recovering gold together with copper, which consists in subjecting the oies of said metals to the action of a solution of ferric sulfate containing sodium chlorid and free chlorin, thereby dissolving part or all of the gold and also dissolving the copper, drawing off the solution, precipitating the gold and copper from the solution by the action of iron, and oxidizing the resulting ferrous sulfate solution to ferric sulfate in solution by the action of nascent oxygen,

5. The process which consists in oxidizing ferrous sulfateto ferric sulfate by the action of nascent oxygen on a solution of ferrous sulfate, togetherwith sodium chlorid, adding chlorin to the solution, leaching ore containing gold and copper with said solution, and separating the extracted metals from the solution.

6. The process for the simultaneous recovery of gold, together with another metal whose sulfate and chlorid are soluble in water, namely, copper, zinc, etc., from their ores, which consists in subjecting the ore to the, action of a solution of ferric sulfate containing sodium chlorid and free chlorin, thereby dissolving copper, zinc, etc., and some or all of. the gold, drawing off the solution, precipitating the co per and the gold by the action of iron, pro ucin ferrous sulfate, subsequently separating t e zinc from dioxid by acting thereon with atmospheric ores, whichconsists in subjecting the ore to the action of a solution of ferric sulfate containing free chlorin, thereby dissolving cop-- per, zinc, etc., and some or all of the gold, drawing off the solution, precipitating the copper and the gold by the action of iron,

producin ferrous sulfate, subsequently separating the zinc from the solution, and oxidi'zing. said ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate for a repetition of the process.

8. The process of recovering gold together with a metal formin soluble sulfates and chlorids, which consists in subjecting the ores of said metals to the action of the solu- 'tion of ferric sulfate containing free chlorin,

thereby dissolving part or all of the gold and also dissolving the stated other metal, .drawing off the solution, precipitating the gold and other metal from the solution by the action of iron, and oxidizing the resulting 3o ferrous sulfate solution to ferric sulfate in solution by the action of manganese dioxid.

9. The process which consists in oxidizing ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate by the action of nascent oxygen on a solution of ferrous sulfate, together with sodium chlorid, and a relatively small quantity of sulfuric acid, adding chlorin to the solution, leaching ore containing gold together and another metal whose sulfate is soluble in water, with said 40 solution, and separating the extracted metals from the solution.

10. The process for the recovery of metal whose sulfate and chlorid are soluble in water, namely, copper, zinc, etc., from its ores, which consists in subjecting the ore to the action of a solution 'of ferric sulfate containing sodium chlorid, thereby "dissolving saidmet'al, drawing off the solution, precipitatingthe metal and producing ferrous I sulfate, and oxidizing. said ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate for repetition of the process.

11. The process which consists in leaching an oxidized ore of copper with a solutionof ferric sulfate containing sodium chlorid, precipitating the copper by the action of iron,

thereby producing ferrous sulfate in solution, and subjecting the solution to the action of nascent oxygen to produce ferric sulfate and ferric hydrate, for regenerating the fer- Q ric sulfate for a repetition of the process, and

for separating from the solution the iron added in the precipitation of the copper.

12. The rocess forsimultaneous recovery of a plur'a 1ty of metals whose sulfates and chlorids are soluble in water, namely, copper, zinc, etc., from their ores, which consists in subjecting the ore to a solution of ferric sulfate, thereby dissolving the metals, drawing off the solution, precipitating the copper by the action of iron, producing ferrous sul- 7C fate,subsequently separating the other metal from the solution, and oxidizing said ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate for the repetition of the process.

13. The process for simultaneous recovery '75 of a plurality of metals whose sulfates or chlorids are soluble in water, namely, cop-.

per, zinc, etc., from their ores, which consists in subjecting the ore to a solution containing ferric sulfate, sodium chlorid, thereby dis- St solving the metals, drawing off the solution, precipitating by the action of iron the copper or other metal which is precipitable by such action, producing ferrous su fate, subsequently separating the zinc, etc. from the solution, and oxidizing said ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate bythe action of manganese dioxid for the repetition of the process and regenerating the manganese dioxid by the action of atmospheric air.

14. The process which consists in leaching an oxidized ore of copper, with a solution of ferric sulfate contaimngsodium chlorid precipitating the copper by the action of iron,

thereby producing ferrous sulfate in solu-' tion, and subjecting the solution to the action of nascent oxygen to produce ferric sulfate and ferric hydrate, for regenerating the ferric sulfate for a repetition of the process, and

for separating from the solution the iron 1 added in the precipitation of the copper.

15. The process for simultaneous recovery of copper and another metal whose sulfate is soluble in water from an oxidized ore of said metals, which consists in subjecting the 1 ore to a solution of ferric sulfate, thereby dissolving the metals, drawing off the solution, precipitating the copper by the action of iron, producing ferrous sulfate, subsequently separating the other metal from the 11C solution, and oxidizing said ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate for the repetition of the I process.

16. The process which consists in leaching an oxidized ore of copper with a solution of ferric sulfate together with sodium chlorid, precipitating the copper from the solution by the action of iron, thereby producing ferrous sulfate in the solution, andacting on said solution by nascent oxygen to regenerate 130 the ferrous sulfate to ferric sulfate and simultaneously preci itate as ferric hydrate the iron taken up uring the precipitation of the copper.

17 The process which consists in leaching an oxidized ore of copper, precipitating the copper by the action of iron, thereby producing ferrous sulfate in solution, and subjecting the solution ,to the action ofmanganese,

dioxid to produce ferric sulfate and ferric hydrate, for regenerating the ferric sulfate for a reFetition of the process, and for separating rom the solution the iron added in the precipitation of the copper.

18. The process which consists in leaching an oxidized ore of copper, precipitating the copper by the action of iron, thereby producing ferrous sulfate in solution, subjecting the solution to the action of manganese dioxid to produce ferric sulfate and ferric hydrate, thereby regenerating the ferric sulfate for a repetition of the process, separating from the solution the iron added in the precipitation of the copper, and regenerating the manganese dioxld by the action of air on the solution.

In testimony whereof,we have hereunto set. our hands at Los Angeles, California, this 5th day of September 1908.

. ALEXANDER T. ELLIOTT.

ALBERT MILLER.

In presence of ARTHUR P. KNIGHT, FRANK L. A. GRAHAM. 

